A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the photocopy reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure in exactly the form it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates in general to a gaming device, and more particularly to a gaming device which has a bonus scheme which discloses values in increments.
In current gaming machines such as slot machines which have bonus schemes, players are able to receive various bonus values associated with various events in a bonus round. For example, a player may receive a relatively high bonus value for selecting a certain symbol and a relatively low bonus value for selecting another symbol. When these gaming devices award players with bonus values, they typically display the amount of bonus values provided to the player. For example when a player selects a symbol, the game displays the numeral fifty next to the symbol or in place of the symbol, and the game awards fifty bonus value points to the player. These existing gaming devices display the total value gained at once. They do not display the total value in increments.
To increase player enjoyment and excitement, it is desirable to provide players with gaming devices with new bonus schemes which disclose the value gained or lost by a player in increments.
The present invention overcomes the above shortcomings by providing a gaming device and method which has a bonus round which is initiated by a predetermined triggering event. A triggering event can be any event in any primary game of a gaming device which triggers a bonus round, such as reaching a predetermined combination of symbols on a set of reels.
The bonus scheme of the present invention includes at least one and preferably a plurality of locations and one or more bonus values associated with the locations. A location includes any area, symbol or selection displayed by the gaming device. The values are preferably numbers which can be positive or negative and which can vary from location to location. The value associated with each location is the total amount of value (hereafter referred to as xe2x80x9ctotal valuexe2x80x9d) that the game provides for any one location.
The game enables the player to select one or more of the locations. After the selection, the game displays or discloses the total values in increments. Preferably the game makes this disclosure simultaneously for all of the selected locations after the player makes all of the selections. The term xe2x80x9cincrements,xe2x80x9d as used herein, includes a plurality of partial disclosures wherein each partial disclosure is separated from the other by a time period or pause.
After disclosing a portion of the total value for each location, the game pauses the disclosure for a predetermined amount of time and then resumes disclosure. The computer carries out this incremental disclosure until the game discloses the total value for each of the selected locations, until a predetermined time period elapses or until some other predetermined event occurs. The portion of the total value disclosed in a partial disclosure, the number of increments used and the duration of the pauses are predetermined or generated by the computer of the gaming device during the bonus round.
When the game has completed the entire disclosure, the game can increase or decrease a player""s balance of values by adding the total value gained (i.e., a positive value) or the total value lost (i.e., a negative value) to this balance. The game then provides the corresponding payouts to the player, and the bonus round terminates.
In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the primary game includes a plurality of reels which include a plurality of symbols. After a player spins the reels and they stop spinning, the reels display certain symbols. If the reels display three or more predetermined, identical symbols on adjacent reels, the game initiates a bonus round.
In the bonus round, the number of locations that a player can select is equal to the number of identical symbols which triggered the bonus round. The player can make a certain number of selections equal to this number. Each time the player makes a selection, the game identifies the selected location with an indicator. The game discloses the total value for the selected locations, in increments preferably simultaneously after the player completes making all of the allowed selections. These increments of disclosure continue until the game discloses the total value for each selected location. Then the game provides the values and corresponding payout to the player. Preferably, the game also reveals or displays to the player the total values for the non-selected locations which the player would have gained had the player chosen these selections.
Furthermore in this preferred embodiment, the game displays one or more characters. Before the player makes the first selection, a character orally prompts the player to make all of the selections. Also, when the game pauses the value disclosure, a character audibly informs the player of the values accumulated by the player thus far and that further disclosure is to come.
Preferably, the game makes value disclosures by displaying a rolling value meter which starts and stops in accordance with the increments. One value meter is positioned adjacent to each location. Also, when the player selects a location, the game displays an indicator at the selected location. Here, the indicator is an oil derrick. As the game discloses values to a player, the oil derrick symbol moves, vibrates or animates in order to represent the pumping of oil.
The bonus scheme of the present invention provides an incremental manner of disclosing values to players. The game discloses the total value to the player in various portions. Each disclosure is separated by a pause. Eventually, the game awards the player with the total value. This type of bonus scheme builds up anticipation and increases a player""s excitement and enjoyment.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a gaming device having a bonus scheme with incremental value disclosure.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts, elements, components, steps and processes.